Audio Research Corporation has been acquired by AR Tube Audio Corp., a privately-owned Delaware-based company that includes Valerio Cora of Acora Acoustics Corporation as a director. Audio Research will operate independently from Acora Acoustics, an Ontario, Canada-based high-performance loudspeaker corporation.
The acquisition was approved by a judge after an asset purchase agreement was made with Lighthouse Management Group.
Private equity and venture capital investment groups are not involved in the new corporation. According to a press release on the sale, AR Tube Audio Corp. is comprised of “passionate audiophiles devoted to great music reproduction.”
Audio Research was founded in Minneapolis in 1970, and will remain in its Maple Grove, MN, facility where it designs, builds, and supports the hand-made products that have established it as a preeminent manufacturer of vacuum-tube audio electronics. The brand’s current staff will remain unchanged but is expected to grow along with the company.
The brand’s network of select dealers and distributors will remain unchanged and continue to receive the full support of the company, as will its customers.
This acquisition is set to provide the financial stability required to resume the growth that Audio Research had achieved over the decades. New products in the works include the Reference 320M amplifier, which the company believes will fuel its growth. The current product line remains and will continue to evolve.
Cora, with his extensive business experience and ownership of Audio Research components for many years, says that he is thrilled to be joining the brand’s team. “As someone whose audio journey has been built on the foundation of Audio Research, I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to contribute to such an innovative and forward- thinking brand,” he said. “I can’t wait to work alongside these amazing people and help drive Audio Research’s success to even greater heights!”
